Simulators are more and more important in training medical or paramedical personnel. Injections and sampling by means of medical devices for injection, puncture and aspiration, such as hypodermic needles and intraosseous needles, is one of the fields of interest for such simulators. Models have therefore been developed to simulate, for example, tension pneumothorax relief, intraosseous injection (IO), and intravenous injection. Presently available simulators typically comprise fluid-tight hollow members made of latex or PVC. Therefore they suffer from the disadvantage of not being suitable for multiple uses as they will leak after one or a few punctures. The main drawback of such known hollow members is thus that they must be replaced after a very short time. Moreover, latex has the disadvantage of being relatively expensive and soft PVC contains a substantial amount of phthalates as softeners, which poses a health concern.
US 2005/0202381 A1 discloses anthropomorphic phantoms containing conduits that simulate blood vessels or cavities to mimic anthropomorphic cavities. Such conduits or cavities may be hollow or filled with liquids or filled with a solid object. The body of the phantom is made of a chemical composition that is self-sealing when punctured. A preferred composition comprises highly plasticized styrene-ethylene-butylene-styrene block copolymers. The phantom is prepared by a moulding process and the internal cavities and conduits are formed in the mould directly in the body of the phantom. A disadvantage of this solution is that when the material forming the body of the phantom looses its self-sealing property after repeated uses, the entire phantom has to be discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,904 discloses a phlebotomy training device that includes fluid circuits simulating veins and arteries. The device is suitable to be secured to a person's arm to realistically simulate positioning of an arm during venous puncture procedures. The device comprises a core element made of a resilient material, formed with channels designed to receive venous and arterial tubing capable of withstanding repealed punctures from a conventional hypodermic needle while maintaining water tight integrity. Again, a disadvantage of this solution is that when the material forming the venous and arterial tubing looses its self-sealing property after repeated uses, the entire phlebotomy training device has to be discarded.
There thus exists a need for simulators for medical training that allow for multiple injections/punctures and overcome the shortcomings of the simulators according to the prior art.
More particularly, there exists a need for simulators having parts that allow multiple punctures and have a life cycle significantly longer than the simulators according to the prior art.